So yesterday afternoon, I decided to dash up to the bakery with CC to grab a late lunch.
I took two steps away from the shop’s front door and then looked down at my hands in horror …
No keys! I had locked myself out.
I live nearby so I can get my spare key, I thought … but my house keys are with my car keys that are with my shop keys. Mmmmm.
I’ll just call one of my casual staff members as they have keys, I thought. Oops, no phone either!
So, I’ll duck next door into the drycleaners and call them from there, my clever mind reasoned …until I realised I had no idea what anyone’s numbers were. They were all in my phone.
As I also had no glasses (sigh), the drycleaner googled a locksmith for me on her own mobile and then handed the phone to me.
I had to wait for around 30 minutes, so I walked up to the bakery and when the owner heard what had happened, he insisted that my lunch was on him.
That took the sting out a bit. Everyone was being so lovely, including all the people who walked past as I sat on my front step and they smiled at me a little quizzically, until I explained. I heard a lot of stories about other people getting locked out, too. It made me feel a little less foolish!
I waited some more with CC sitting happily beside me. I had no idea what the time was or how long I had waited because, yep, no phone and I don’t use a watch anymore!
I kept thinking how I could text or call someone while I wait, but alas…
So instead I simply watched the world around me … I laughed at some birds playing in a water fountain across the road. I smiled at the contagious laughter of a young toddler going down the slide in the playground. I admired all the trees nearby with sunlight shimmering on their leaves and thought how lucky I was to work and live in such a beautiful neighbourhood.
All in all, I was feeling very relaxed for someone who had a long list of things to do that afternoon, including sell some shoes, and who was on the wrong side of her own front door.
Fortunately, no customers arrived during this period (it’s not often I wish for no customers!) and no shoe deliveries either.
When the locksmith arrived, he opened the door in a disturbingly fast timeframe (!) and, as I paid the three digit bill, I marvelled at how calm I was.
I had been so “busy” all day, starting at 6.30am and bustling around with great haste and this is what happened … I locked myself out because I was in too much of a hurry to remember my keys.
And yet for 30-40 minutes, I was forced to stop and relax and it felt so great. I think these days we are so busy and, here’s the kicker, so intent on being busy and mistaking it for being productive perhaps, that we speed through life, and miss so much.
So this was all a great lesson in slowing down and appreciating things more. It was expensive but I reckon it was worth it!
Until next time,
Carol & CCx
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